Please note: we have been online over ten years, and we want The Trek BBS to continue as a free site. But if you block our ads we are at risk.Please consider unblocking ads for this site - every ad you view counts and helps us pay for the bandwidth that you are using. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome! The Trek BBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans. Please login to see our full range of forums as well as the ability to send and receive private messages, track your favourite topics and of course join in the discussions.

If you are a new visitor, join us for free. If you are an existing member please login below. Note: for members who joined under our old messageboard system, please login with your display name not your login name.

I'm sure there's somebody on this board who can enlighten me about this.

We see a couple of TNG characters wearing TWOK (or variant) uniforms in the past. Picard, Jack Crusher. We also see the crew of the Enterprise C wearing them in Yesterday's Enterprise, which was, what, only 22 years before the events of TNG's third season? (so only 19 years before Farpoint)

One assumes then that the TNG uniforms are relatively recent when we first see them in the TNG pilot. In Beverly's flashback sequence in Violations we see Picard wearing the season 1 TNG uniform on the day Jean-Luc brings Jack Crusher's body back to her, as do the crew of the Stargazer in The Battle. Admittedly both of these are visions brought on by outside forces, but if we take them at face value we might surmise that the new TNG uniforms were phased in during Picard's tour of duty on the Stargazer, as we do see Jack Crusher wearing the TWOK style (and we know he served on the Stargazer).

Does any source actually pin down the uniform change to a specific time? How long before TNG do we think it changed?

Jack Crusher's recorded holomessage to Wesley sees him wearing the TWOK uniform. Presumably this was recorded around the time Wes was born, or about to be born. Picard's crew aboard the Stargazer wear the TNG uniforms. I assume the change must have happened somewhere between Wes's birth and the Stargazer's destruction. How old was Wesley at the start of TNG?

TNG "Family" is our best source so far. Jack Crusher's holomessage with the TWOK uniform is dated at Wesley's birth, hence 2348. His uniform came to feature TNG-style collar pips before his 2354 death, though, as Wesley inherits those.

It doesn't get much narrower than that. Adding to the above, Janeway's father wears a uniform that clearly belongs to the TNG family rather than the TWOK one, in a hallucination of dubious accuracy, but that's only in 2358.

Jack Crusher's recorded holomessage to Wesley sees him wearing the TWOK uniform. Presumably this was recorded around the time Wes was born, or about to be born. Picard's crew aboard the Stargazer wear the TNG uniforms. I assume the change must have happened somewhere between Wes's birth and the Stargazer's destruction. How old was Wesley at the start of TNG?

Wesley was born in 2348, so he would have been about sixteen at the start of the series.

TNG "Family" is our best source so far. Jack Crusher's holomessage with the TWOK uniform is dated at Wesley's birth, hence 2348. His uniform came to feature TNG-style collar pips before his 2354 death, though, as Wesley inherits those.

Cheers Timo. It seems reasonable to assume that Jack's pips came from after the uniform switch, which in itself must have happened after the holomessage was actually recorded.

I think that nails it down to my satisfaction. The uniform change must have come sometime in that six year period. And given that TNG begins in 2364, that gives us around 10-15 years that the TNG uniforms have been in effect before "Farpoint", give or take.

We had the whole TNG-DS9 mix throughout the series' & movies (and the subsequent arguments about their purposes), so it's not out of the question both movie & early TNG uniforms might have co-existed for a little while.

The lack of the undershirt with those burgundy uniforms (in TNG) always bothered me. What, they couldn't dig up a few colored turtlenecks?

__________________
Rimmer, on what period of history to live in-
“Well, It’d be the 19th century for me, one of Napoleon’s marshals.
The chance to march across Europe with the greatest general of all time and kill Belgians” - (White Hole).

Wow, those TWOK uniforms are pretty long-serving, then! They hung onto them for a good 70, 80 years! They phased out the early TNG jumpsuits (for main characters) after two seasons!

Which is patently ridiculous. In a much lesser span of time, TNG went from the spandex of S1&2, to the "regular" duty uniform for the rest of the series, to the DS9 uniforms for Generations, to the FC uniforms, to the AGT uniforms (granted that last one was from an alternate future, but they popped up at least three times in Trek's future history, so they've got something going for them).

I always felt that "Yesterday's Enterprise" should have shown the Ent-C crew in some kind of "intermediate" uniform (and phaser as well, since the type they used was even older than the uniforms!) I know they blew the budget on the Ent-C model, but it's not like the wardrobe dept. couldn't have come up with something, even if they were re-used uniforms from some alien-of-the-week.

Wow, those TWOK uniforms are pretty long-serving, then! They hung onto them for a good 70, 80 years! They phased out the early TNG jumpsuits (for main characters) after two seasons!

Which is patently ridiculous. In a much lesser span of time, TNG went from the spandex of S1&2, to the "regular" duty uniform for the rest of the series, to the DS9 uniforms for Generations, to the FC uniforms...

It could be looked at (in hindsight) that Starfleet underwent a series of interim uniforms from 2366 to 2373 until finally settling on the First Contact uniforms.

...to the AGT uniforms (granted that last one was from an alternate future, but they popped up at least three times in Trek's future history, so they've got something going for them).

I wouldn't count those except as uniforms from a potential future (or alternate timeline). For all we know, the First Contact uniforms may actually be around for several decades or a totally different uniform design may be in service by then.

__________________"Don't sweat the small stuff--it makes you small-minded..."

I wouldn't count those except as uniforms from a potential future (or alternate timeline). For all we know, the First Contact uniforms may actually be around for several decades or a totally different uniform design may be in service by then.

I agree. Every potential future we see has those uniforms in it, but that's probably only a plot-device to avoid confusing the audience. There's been no mention of the uniforms in any of the novels, so it's safe to assume that the FC uniforms are still in use and will be for some time.

It could be looked at (in hindsight) that Starfleet underwent a series of interim uniforms from 2366 to 2373 until finally settling on the First Contact uniforms.

So are you implying that the FC uniform will be around for the next 70 years like the TWOK uniform was? Because I'd bet good money that if they made another TNG movie right now that took place after Nemesis, the cast wouldn't be wearing those uniforms.

I wouldn't count those except as uniforms from a potential future (or alternate timeline). For all we know, the First Contact uniforms may actually be around for several decades or a totally different uniform design may be in service by then.

I only added them for completeness's sake, and that we saw them at least three times. I personally hate those uniforms, and if they never actually existed in the "real" prime future, I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep

Wow, those TWOK uniforms are pretty long-serving, then! They hung onto them for a good 70, 80 years! They phased out the early TNG jumpsuits (for main characters) after two seasons!

Actually, a little bit longer. Remember, the early TNG uniforms were in use at least as early as 2364 (when Picard brings back Jack Crusher's corpse. So at least 11 years. Longer then the later TNG/DS9 ones.

I think Starfleet is kind of destined to head towards those AGT uniforms, as we've seen them in nearly all possible futures in TNG/DS9/VOY era Trek.

Not just the uniforms, but the equipment seems to be following the pattern laid down in AGT. Captain La Forge in 'Timeless' (VOY) was wearing a FC style uniform, but an AGT combadge. Of course, the Negh'var class warships seen in the possible future timeline in AGT, later showed up in the 'present' DS9 timeline.

The future phasers, seen in 'Endgame', later cropped up as the standard issue Starfleet phasers in the present timeline, in Star Trek:Nemesis.

__________________
It's a FAAAAKKKEEE!
Senator Vreenak- In the Pale Moonlight